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It seems every trip we go on, something just amazes me. I saw a fairly large 5th wheel that was labeled "half ton" under the brand name. I was able to see the model so I researched it. It's a 38' fifth wheel designed for 1/2 ton trucks! The guy towing it was in a F250 at least but it amazes me they build something this big and market it toward 1/2 ton trucks.
Thought I would add a few more, one was from another camping trip and the other I caught driving through town. And no, the Jeep Liberty was not running any sort of trailer brakes.
It amazes me some of the things seen traveling the highways.
That suv pulling the dozer is crazy. I've seen alot of Tundras pulling misc large crap behind them and think the truck are overloaded. It's never a problem till it is and effecting everyone else around them.
We have seen a lot of setups come into the camp ground that I thought were a little mismatched. Lots of Tesla cars pulling campers, and other smaller electric vehicles. Lots of small SUV’s and even smaller trucks like Rangers pulling some big campers…
It amazes me more how fast people drive while towing. Probably the ones always complaining about trailer tires blowing out.
I agree that there's probably some correlation there. Probably some correlation with these and the complaints of towing fuel economy being shockingly low.
If the rig cant safely go 80mph in high winds and snow, it's rubbish. I hate RV'ers. Not as much as trailer boat idiots, though.
And funny how the guys who switched to unsafe LT tires, don't have blowouts as often.
I'm old enough to remember when people pulled trailers with regular CARS, not trucks. My '73 Cougar (last of the unibody Mustang chassis) had a hitch on it when I bought it waaaay back in '82 - and so did my buddy's unibody stick shift '73 Mach 1 Mustnag that he bought in '75! I have no idea what you'd try to tow with either of those cars!
back in '71 and '73, dad towed our boat trailer with 4.80-12 tires with a utility box that held our camping gear bolted on it for over 25k miles (note this was before the 55mph National speed limit) . We DID have ONE trailer tire blowout on I-40 pulling into Albuquerque at 85mph... Our tow vehicle back then was a 2-dr fastback '68 Olds 88 Delta Custom 455-4bbl, riding on 8.55-14 or G-78-14 bias ply tires (radials were not common back then!)
Speaking of trailer tire blow-outs, does anybody else remember when pop-up tent/trailers had those small-diameter 'roller skate' 8" wheels/tires? those are only ~16" outer diameter! At 60mph, that tire is spinning 1260rpm, 1576rpm at 75. Talk about tires turning high RPMs at highway speeds! By comparison, the 235/85R16 tires on my F250 are only turning 636rpm at 60mph, or half as fast!, the 225/75R15E tires on the 26' car hauler turn 715rpm at 60.
I always love the internet engineers with little between the ears that gloat how well their 1/2 tons pull their marginal oversized setup, then upgrade to a 3/4 ton or better, and still act like their 1/2 ton was fine.
Last edited by SpencerPJ; Jun 7, 2026 at 05:30 PM.
We had a Cushman Conestoga (I think it was a 1962?) travel trailer. They used to pull those with a 1/2ton back in the day.
Yep and that trailer weighed in at HALF what a current half-ton-towable weighs in at today. Almost guaranteed.
My dad pulled an old Cree fifth wheel with his '79 F150. In 1986 he needed a crew cab because there were four of us kids plus him and mom. Ended up with a crew cab dually 4x4 because he figured we'd be getting a bigger trailer at some point. That happened too, and the new trailer was heavier as well.
Even the 'ultra light' RVs of today aren't as light as the RVs of yesteryear. That's a simple fact. Cars of today are heavier than cars of yesteryear, believe it or not, BUT their construction has completely changed and they just aren't built to pull heavy loads like they used to.
The simple fact is towing an RV or boat (or even driving a fully-loaded semi) at high speeds is dangerous - you've got a LOT more weight, not nearly the same weight-to-braking ratio, and a hinge point in the middle of all that, and in an emergency situation there is EVERY possibility you could lose control or injure/kill someone. That is why I tow at 65mph or less, and I don't care if it's slowing you down - life is about the ride, not the destination, so slow down and take in some of the scenery.
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